


Hero's Journey

by angstytieflingbard



Series: Legend of Zelda/Boku no Hero Academia Crossover [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, Fluff and Angst, Other, Selectively Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), considering the fact that im making the whole anime mesh with legend of zelda, liberal changes to canon, will add more tags as necessary, you know
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2020-10-14 13:37:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20601686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angstytieflingbard/pseuds/angstytieflingbard
Summary: Link spent his entire life working and hoping to get into U.A. Now that he's here, he has to navigate the trials and tribulations of hero training, as well as the rapidly arising drama among his new classmates. He was more than ready for the challenges ahead. But are school and friends all he has to worry about?





	1. First Day

**Author's Note:**

> Alright! So, this was originally posted to tumblr, under my account of the same name as this one. I'm also going to eventually crosspost everything else I've written over here too, along with future chapters of this work and whatever else I eventually write. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy, I put a fair bit of work into this, and I'm really excited to see where it ends up going! I haven't planned out every aspect of it, so if you have any thoughts or ideas or whatnot, you can shoot me an ask on tumblr any time and I'll answer it as soon as I can! Or, you know, you can leave a comment/kudos on here, too.

Link stared up at the intimidatingly tall door in front of him. Bright red and grey, with the label “1-A” stamped on it. It was his first day at U.A, something he’d been excited for right up until he’d stopped in front of the classroom door, listening to what sounded like shouting on the other side. 

Well, it would be wrong to say he wasn’t still excited. But a bit of apprehension had worked its way into his head. What if hero school wasn’t how he imagined? He’d spent his whole life working and praying to get into U.A, he had absolutely no contingency plan if he failed. He sighed, somewhat irritated at himself and his sudden, baseless worries, and pushed the classroom door open, carefully schooling his face into a blank mask as he slipped inside. 

The classroom already looked like a warzone, despite it only being about 7:45 in the morning, before the first day of class even officially started. One kid seemed to be the instigator, a spiky blonde with clear anger issues looking about ready to square up with everyone in the room. Also standing somewhat near the door were three students, all giving wildly different impressions at first glance. There was a tall, blue haired boy with glasses only partially obscuring a stern, severe expression, a timid looking green-haired boy who looked to be only centimeters taller than Link himself, and a cheery girl with pink cheeks and bobbed brown hair. The green-haired boy noticed his entry first, and gave Link a curious look as he approached.

“Uh, hi, are you in 1-A too? Sorry, that’s… that’s a silly question, um-” He cut himself off, looking increasingly discomforted by Link’s lack of response. The brunette interjected, sensing the boy’s discomfort. 

“Hey, I’m Uraraka Ochaco! This is Midoriya, and the boy with the glasses is Iida. Nice to meet you!” She introduced herself, stepping forward and enthusiastically shaking his hand. Link blinked, a bit surprised at the warm welcome from her compared to the absolute murderous glare being directed in the general direction of the group by the spiky blonde across the room. An awkward silence settled over the group again, and Link realized they were waiting for his name. He took a deep breath, and brought his hands up, signing somewhat slowly for them. 

_‘Hi, my name’s Link.’_

As expected, the only reaction he got were confused looks on their faces, and he sighed for the second time in the past five minutes, pulling out a set of index cards from his blazer pocket. The cards all held phrases and words he found useful day to day, written with thick-lined sharpie in the neatest handwriting he could manage. He quickly shuffled through the set, finding his introduction card and turning it so the three of them could read it. 

_‘Hi, my name’s Link. I don’t talk, but I’m fluent in sign language. Nice to meet you!’_ The card read, and all three of them frowned thoughtfully as Link returned the card along with the rest of the set to his pocket. 

“Well, we can figure something out! I’m sure we’ll all be great friends regardless!” Ochaco said cheerfully, but before any of the other three in the group could respond, someone spoke up from behind Link.

“Go somewhere else if you’re just here to play at being friends. This is the hero course.” Link spun, narrowing his eyes at the man before him. He was clearly an adult, likely their teacher, though you wouldn’t be able to tell from the exhausted, gaunt face, or the fact that he was laying on the ground in a bright yellow sleeping bag and sipping on a juice packet. Link dimly registered the shocked and near fearful reactions of his classmates behind him, and he frowned slightly. 

“Okay, it took you eight seconds to stop talking. Time is limited. You kids aren’t rational enough.” The man said, tone exhausted and annoyed. He stood, slipping out of the sleeping bag as he did, and surveyed the class with an appraising glower. 

“I’m your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shouta. Nice to meet you.” He said, and then reached into the sleeping bag and pulled out what looked to be a dark blue track uniform with red and white accents. Link’s eyebrows raised, bemused. 

“Anyway, it’s kind of sudden, but put these on and head out to the field. We don’t have all day.” He sighed, and began pulling more gym uniforms out of the sleeping bag. 

_‘Weird.’_ Link found himself thinking. Their teacher was certainly an odd one, though he supposed he didn’t have a lot of room to judge. He took a uniform from the man regardless, and shuffled off to the changing rooms with his classmates. 

The changing rooms were split into boys and girls, and he frowned at the signs for a moment, eventually just shrugging and making his way into the boys’ locker room. It was strangely chaotic for only being in there to change into gym clothes, and by the time Link is dressed and out the door, he’s sighing irritably at the antics of his classmates. 

Eventually the whole class finds their way out to the field, where Aizawa begins to explain what they were doing for the day. 

_‘A quirk assessment…?’_ Link hums thoughtfully to himself. He knew he could be… reckless, at the best of times, and he knew that certainly wouldn’t go over well, not in this situation. He listened to the conversation of the class, expression settling into a look of determination as Bakugo’s (the murderous, spiky blonde from earlier, Link realized) demonstration set a clear standard for the test. He’d have to push himself past his normal limits, he knew, his quirk not exactly helpful for physical tests like this. 

_‘Well…’_ Link thought, stifling the almost wolf-like smile that attempted to form on his face as Aizawa upped the stakes for the assessment. _‘A little competition wouldn’t hurt.’_

It’s with that thought that Link sets to the tests with a nearly singular attention, his competitive streak impressive, if a little disconcerting. Bakugo, of course, took it as a personal offense, and even though he had a much greater advantage due to his quirk, he still gloated each time he surpassed Link’s own score. Link decided he didn’t like Bakugo much. 

By the end of the test, he was nearly shaking from the exertion, though he took some comfort in the familiar burn of his muscles, knowing that the effort wouldn’t go to waste regardless. Aizawa brought the assessment results up on a holopad and Link squinted up at the list, trying to find his name. He’d ended up only a bit above average, and he huffed, catching the smug look on Bakugo’s face out of the corner of his eye. Out of curiosity, he glanced at the end of the list, and frowned as he saw the name there. 

_‘Midoriya… ‘_ Link thought solemnly, glancing over at the green haired boy. He offered him a gentle hand on his shoulder, not wanting to overwhelm him when he was clearly already about to break down. 

“Oh, by the way, what I said about expelling last place was a lie.” Aizawa suddenly added, tone aloof. Midoriya gasped next to him, seeming to melt from the relief. Link just narrowed his eyes at the teacher, jaw set and lips pursed into an expression of extreme disapproval. Aizawa didn’t notice. 

_‘He seems kind of cruel. Between this and how he talked to him during the soft ball throw, I get the feeling he doesn’t like Midoriya much.’_ Link ignored his classmates’ outburst about the deception in favor of continuing to reassuringly pat his back as the greenette recovers from the near panic attack he’d had. Ochaco and Iida have worked their way over by this point, and the girl helped Midoriya to his feet. 

“You good? That must have been terrifying, huh?” She asked him, and he nodded, running a hand down his face tiredly. 

“I thought I was done for…” He admitted, and Iida hummed in agreement. 

“I’m sure Aizawa had his reasons for his… ‘Rational deception,’ I believe he called it.” Iida offered with some uncertainty. Midoriya only sighed, not agreeing or refuting the boy’s comment. Link patted his back again, and he offered a small, grateful smile in return. 

“Well, anyway, Aizawa said we could go home! We can meet out front once we change and grab our stuff, if you guys want? It might be fun to ride the train in a group for once!” Ochaco suggested, and all four agreed quickly, dispersing to do what they needed to do. 

~

Later that night, Link found himself unable to sleep, thinking over the day’s events happily. He’d made three friends in only a day, a surprise to him considering his usually somewhat antisocial personality. Of course, he’d also found a rival of sorts in Bakugo, though he knew he had a ways to go before he’d be able to really compare himself to the boy in strength. He was determined to surpass the spiky blond though, regardless of how difficult he knew it would be to get there. Finally, he remembered his teacher and the mans’ increasingly strange behavior towards his classmates. He couldn’t help but wonder why he’d targeted Midoriya in particular. 

Less than a half hour later, his thoughts started to blur together as his eyes slid shut on their own, and he turned to lay sprawled on his back. As he finally slipped into sleep, his thoughts turned hopefully to the future.


	2. Battle Simulations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link does a battle simulation, and finds an enemy in Bakugou. Thankfully, he finds some friends too. He only wishes he didn't notice how empty the sky is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sick, I'm pretty sure I'm dying, but let's do this. I hope you enjoy, and don't be afraid to share your thoughts on this! My tumblr name is angstytieflingbard too, if you'd rather talk to me on there. Have a good day!

When Link got into class the next morning, chaos had already erupted, despite it only being 7:40.

_‘I’m starting to notice a trend…’_ Link thought, edging around the commotion in the front of the room to get to his seat. He was near the back of the class, next to a quiet boy with red and white hair. Link glanced over at the boy for a moment, curious, but found his attention quickly dragged back to the front of the room. 

Iida and Bakugou were arguing again, as they had been the morning before (according to Uraraka, Iida had gotten upset over Bakugou putting his feet on the desk, which is what started them both off), Kirishima and Ochaco were attempting to mediate the confrontation, and Midoriya was settled against the wall opposite them, watching their argument with a somewhat anxious expression on his face. Link waved at him, admittedly somewhat obnoxiously, until the greenette finally looked over at him. He gave a quick ‘Come Here’ signal, and Midoriya made his way over, keeping an eye on the group at the front as he did. 

_‘You okay?’_ Link scribbled onto a spare paper in his notebook and showed it to the boy. 

“I’m alright. Just… it’s been awhile since I’ve seen Bakugo get this worked up over something. And usually when he does it’s at me, so… you know.” Midoriya chuckled uncomfortably. Link narrowed his eyes. 

_‘With what you said yesterday, I’m surprised you don’t just avoid him entirely.’_ He wrote next, and Midoriya sighed. 

“It’s complicated. We were friends as kids. But he’s… kinda angry, as I’m sure you can tell. I’m- I was, quirkless. So I was an easy target, I guess.” Midoriya explained, spurred on by the intent look on Link’s face. He wasn't laughing anymore, but he offered a sad, weak smile to the blonde. 

_‘He sounds like a bully. That won’t fly here, not if he wants to be a hero. So don’t worry about him being an ass to you anymore.’_ Link writes, and Midoriya’s smile gets a little wider. A little more real. 

By now, Iida and Bakugou had both finally gone to their seats, Kirishima and Ochaco following a moment later, and the green-haired boy patted Link’s shoulder gratefully as he went to his desk too. Class started only a couple minutes later. 

~~

Link hesitated in front of the changing room doors for only a moment this time, turning and heading into the girls’ room as he remembered his experience in the boys’ only the day before. It’s much calmer, and after some introductions, quiet conversation filled the air as as he changed into his hero costume. 

It was a bit complicated to get into, admittedly. First, cream-colored harem pants, tucked into brown steel-capped boots, and held up by two overlapping hip scarves. Next came the long sleeved olive green undershirt, and short sleeved cerulean overshirt, and then a faux-leather chestplate (one-shouldered, giving his sword arm a better range of motion), and gauntlets, fingerless gloves, and tactical belt of similar make. The chestplate and gloves were also engraved with a gilded symbol of three triangles stacked to make one larger one. For the final touches, he had a shoulder guard on his shield arm, a long, white scarf, and a small headpiece, consisting of a decorative ear cuff, curling over and behind his pointed ear to look reminiscent of feathers, with an earbud attached. 

When he finished getting dressed, he was surprised to see that some of the girls had waited up for him, talking quietly amongst themselves. 

“Wow, your costume looks so cool! It reminds me of fantasy stories, if that makes sense?” Uraraka complimented his outfit cheerfully as the remaining few in the room filed out along with them. Link smiled, feeling his cheeks pinken at the compliment. 

“It certainly looks protective, anyway. I hadn’t even thought of something like steel-toed boots…” Jiro said thoughtfully, and Yaoyorozu nodded in agreement. 

“The design is certainly interesting. Most of our costumes make our quirk pretty obvious, but I don’t know if I could even guess at yours.” Link’s smile stretched to a mischievous grin, and he shrugged nonchalantly in answer. 

Soon enough they were at the training grounds, and the group of four dispersed, only Uraraka staying by Link. Most of the class was there as well, though he noticed Midoriya was conspicuously absent. 

“Where do you think Deku-kun is?” Uraraka asked, seemingly voicing his thoughts. He paused for a moment, remembering the conversation they’d had after school about Midoriya’s nickname. 

_“Why does he call you Deku?” Iida had asked, and Link cocked his head to the side curiously._

‘Doesn’t Deku mean useless?’ _He remembered thinking. The word reminded him of trees, though he couldn’t fathom why. _

_As Midoriya had explained, Link frowned. This guy seemed more and more like a villain the more he heard about him._

Link sighed at the memory, glancing back in the direction of the training ground entrance. As though summoned by Uraraka’s question, Midoriya jogged out into the area the class gathered in, and Link tapped the brunette’s shoulder, pointing to the boy as he approached. 

“Hey Deku! I love your costume, not too flashy, you know?” She greeted him, and he froze, seeming to fluster at the compliment. 

“Well, I… Uh…” He trailed off, and Link felt his brows raise. Uraraka was right, though. Midoriya’s costume was almost cute in it’s simplicity, a green body suit with white accents, red tactical belt and tennis shoes, white gloves, black knee and elbow pads, and a black and white translucent mask over the lower half of his face. With the long protrusions attached to the head of the suit, it reminded Link of a bunny, and he couldn’t help but smile lightly. 

“I should have been more specific about what I wanted. This bodysuit is skintight!” She complained, and Link huffed out a laugh in agreement. It was true, the suit seemed uncomfortably tight, though he imagined the heels weren’t much help either. He tapped her foot with his, giving an exaggerated glance down at her boots to make his point, and she smiled sheepishly. 

“Well… the heels were my idea. I kind of regret that now though…” She admitted, adjusting her astronaut-like face visor.

“I love this school.” The three glanced over at the comment to see a short, grape-headed boy practically drooling as he looked at Uraraka. Link narrowed his eyes, moving to loom threateningly over him. 

“Uh, Link? _Link?_” Midoriya asked, concerned. The boy looked up, paling at the malicious intent on the blonde’s face. Link reared his leg back to punt the grape into the nearest wall. 

“Alright students, now that you’re ready, it’s time for combat training!” All Might announced, voice booming across the faux urban landscape. Link paused at the voice and the grape boy quickly scrambled away from him. He sighed, but turned and stalked over to the rest of the class, Midoriya and Uraraka following quickly after. Link spared one more glance at the now terrified grape before All Might started to speak. He gave them a brief explanation on the statistics of indoor vs. outdoor battles, and informed them that they would be doing indoor battle simulations. Several students started asking questions all at once, the pro hero listening patiently to their concerns. 

“How will wins and losses be determined?” 

“How much can we hurt the other team?” Link glanced over at Bakugo dubiously at this.

“Will the losers be in danger of getting expelled like yesterday?” 

“How will we be split into teams?” 

“Isn’t this cape fabulous?” 

All Might cut in, telling everyone to settle down so he could explain the rules, pulling out a small pamphlet as he did. 

“A script?” Midoriya murmured in surprise, and Link snorted. 

The exercise seemed simple enough. They’d be split up randomly into teams of two, and then fight indoors as heroes vs villains, with the villains protecting a fake weapon and the heroes attempting to either retrieve the weapon or capture the villains. 

“Also, as we have an uneven number, one team will have three people!” He said, holding up a box filled with little slips of paper. 

“We’re deciding that haphazardly? And won’t the team with three have an unfair advantage?” Iida interrupted again, though this time Midoriya was the one to answer. 

“Pros are always having to create makeshift teams with heroes from other agencies, and sometimes hero vs. villain teams end up unbalanced in terms of numbers, so maybe that’s why?” He offered. 

“I see. So that too is a reflection of the real world. Please excuse my rudeness!” He said with a bow. All Might accepted the apology, and the students moved to take slips from the box, finding their teams quickly enough. Link read his own slip as he stepped away from the box. 

_‘Team G…’_ He surveyed the class, skirting around the edges of the group and discreetly checking people’s papers. 

“Uh, Team G? Anyone?” Link turned at the voice, seeing a boy with almost yellow blonde hair, a horizontal streak of black looking almost like a lightning bolt crossing the side of his hair. He walked over and tapped on his shoulder, the boy jumping at the contact and spinning to face him. 

“Oh! Hey, you team G?” Link nodded, and he grinned. 

“Yo, I’m team G too.” Jiro approached them, holding her slip up to show them. 

“Nice! I’m Kaminari, by the way.” He introduced himself. 

“I’m Jiro, this is Link. He doesn’t talk.” Jiro responded, giving Link a small smile in return for his grateful expression. Kaminari nodded, thankfully not seeming to mind, and the three followed the rest of the class to the observation room. 

~~

The first battle went to hell almost immediately. 

Yaoyorozu was right to call it a lynching, watching Bakugo for all intents and purposes attempting to murder his friend. He felt helpless watching his friend get hurt, knowing he couldn’t do anything about it. Even Uraraka had gotten hurt, the overuse of her quirk making her sick, and both of them had gotten sent to the infirmary soon after the battle. Link had glared daggers at Bakugo the entirety of the discussion after the fight. The explosive boy didn’t even look back at him, seemingly consumed in inner conflict. 

Next was Todoroki and Shouji against Ojiro and Hagakure. The battle lasted only two minutes, though it had felt even shorter to Link, attention split between the screens and his partners strategizing next to him. The others seemed horrified at the strength of the bichromatic boy, though Link found himself more intrigued. He kept feeling that nagging feeling of familiarity at seeing the boys quirk. 

Finally, it was his groups turn. They were the heroes, and Yaoyarozu and Mineta were the villains. 

“Alright, so we have a plan. Jiro checks each floor with her quirk, and when we find them I stun them with my electricity, and then Link goes in and keeps them busy until we grab the weapon.” Kaminari recalled, and Jiro and Link nodded. The signal for them to enter sounded not long after, and they filed in, Jiro at the head of the group. 

They followed their system, Jiro checking each floor meticulously with her quirk, all the way to the fourth, when the girl finally nodded, pointing towards the floor above. They headed towards the stairs, and Kaminari gingerly tested the doors, mindful for traps. They realized quickly that the doors were blocked. Link stepped forward, gently brushing Kaminari out of the way, and braced himself to try and ram the door open. 

He took a glance back to make sure they were prepared, and at their nods, he rammed into the door, clenching his teeth at the pain that reverberated through his shoulder. The door gave a little, and he heard a clatter on the other side, confirming his suspicion that the door was blocked rather than locked or held shut by something. He tried again, and this time the door opened, stopped only by the metal bars littering the ground in front of the door. 

Link rolled his shoulder to ease the quickly-forming ache as Kaminari moved in front of him, activating his quirk and blasting the room with electricity. It was a relatively low voltage, as Kaminari had explained earlier that if he tried to do too powerful of an attack he wouldn’t be able to control it, likely putting the two of them in the crossfire in the process. 

As soon as the electricity dissipated, Link charged forward, surveying the room quickly. Mineta was on the ground, whining dramatically about the pain, but Yaoyarozu was still standing, already making something to use as a weapon despite the pain he was sure she was still feeling. He also realized the weapon wasn’t in this room, and clicked his tongue in slight annoyance, realizing they’d hidden it somewhere else. It was a good plan, forcing them to fight while the weapon was safely tucked away, possibly even on a part of one of the lower floors that they hadn’t manually checked. Unfortunately, that meant there wouldn’t be any avoiding conflict with Yaoyarozu still standing. Link grabbed Mineta by the back of his shirt, throwing him (possibly a little harder than necessary) over to Jiro and Kaminari, and started in Yaoyarozu’s direction. 

She swung her weapon at him, a long metal baton, and Link brought his arm up, catching it on his gauntlet with a grunt, holding back a wince. He twisted his hand around before she could swing, gripping the baton and yanking it away from her. He backed up to give himself some time, adjusting his grip on the baton. 

‘I could use it like a sword…’ He mused, and with that thought, he lunged forward, baton connecting with Yaoyorozu’s newly made one. 

From there, it was almost like a dance, and the rest of the room seemed to fade away as he fought with a singular attention. Yaoyarozu struggled to keep up, each blow connecting a bit too close for comfort, and finally their batons locked. They struggled for a moment, each trying to overpower each other, until finally Link grunted and pushed her back with all his strength, sending her stumbling back. He gave her no time to recover, dashing forward and dropping the baton, pulling the roll of capture tape from his belt and wrapping it around her as swiftly as possible. 

_“Villains Captured! The Heroes Win!”_

~~

_‘Hey, Bakugou.’_ Link set the paper on the explosive boys desk. Bakugou glanced up at Link suspiciously. 

“What do you want, extra?” Link rolled his eyes at the boys abrasiveness.

_‘I know it’s not my business, but Midoriya’s my friend and I think if you’d stop being such an insufferable child then maybe you could be too, so I wanted to warn you. The kind of cruelty you showed off today wasn’t heroic, and if you keep acting like that eventually you’re gonna get kicked out. You were practically trying to kill Midoriya today, for something that’s not his fault. He’d never want to hurt you, so why would you want to do that to him?’_ Bakugou skimmed the note quickly, scowl deepening. 

“You’re right, it’s not your business. What I do to weak, lying little nerds isn’t any of your concern.” He growled, standing and walking towards the door, shoulder-checking Link as he did. Link grabbed his arm as he passed, locking eyes with him and signing something he was sure even Bakugou would understand. 

_‘I’m watching you.’_

Bakugou yanked his arm away roughly, slipping past the group waiting for Midoriya to return from the infirmary and out the door. Link frowned. He’d been hoping that Bakugou would’ve been at least a little remorseful, maybe even understanding of Link’s concerns about the path he was on. With that idea thrown out the window, he at least hoped Bakugou would take his threat seriously. He didn’t exactly have any ill will for the guy, but he wasn’t gonna let his friend get bullied anymore. 

“Link?” He turned, seeing Yaoyarozu watching him with a somewhat concerned expression. “Are you alright? You seem upset.” Link shrugged somewhat sadly, handing over the paper he’d written the notes on, with one addition. 

_‘He said that “What he did to weak, lying little nerds wasn’t my concern.”’_ Yaoyarozu read the paper over quickly, frowning at the last addition. 

“You were… maybe a bit harsh, in your wording. But correct nonetheless.” She sighed, taking in his dejected expression. 

“If you think there’s a bullying problem here, you could take it to Aizawa? He’d know how to deal with it.” She offered. Link shook his head. 

_‘Aizawa doesn’t exactly like Midoriya, so I don’t know that he’d step in. And even if he would, I’m not looking to ruin Bakugou’s chance at being a hero, I just want him to stop being such a relentless ass. Plus, Midoriya would only get mad at me. He doesn’t seem to see a problem with Bakugou’s behavior, not like everyone else does.’_ She nodded, reluctantly agreeing. 

“Then the only thing you can do is leave it alone for now. If it gets worse, I’ll come talk to Aizawa with you myself.” Link smiled at her assurance. 

“What are you talking to Aizawa about?” Another classmate, Tsuyu, stepped in, curious at what she’d overheard. Link and Yaoyarozu shared a glance, and when Link shrugged noncommittally she spoke. 

“We’re a bit concerned about Bakugou’s behavior. We were considering talking to Aizawa about it if it got any worse, considering the one he’s actually targeting won’t.” 

“I noticed that too. He seems kinda villain-like.” Tsuyu said, taking a seat on the desk between the other two. 

_‘He could be a good hero if he’d just calm down. I doubt he even knows what he’s angry about half the time.’_ The girls waited patiently for his response, and he smiled gratefully. He was used to getting left behind in conversations, so this was a nice change. 

“You’re probably right. Maybe-” Yaoyarozu started, only to be cut off by a few cheers from the other kids as Midoriya walked in, with his arm in a cast but otherwise not too worse for wear. They crowded around him, showering him with praise for his quick thinking during the simulation, and he blushed bright as he attempted to brush it off as nothing. 

“Hey, where’s Bakugou?” Midoriya asked, and Link’s brows furrowed in concern. 

“He left just a minute ago, looking all pissed about something.” Kirishima explained with his usual grin, and Midoriya excused himself quickly, running out in the direction Bakugou had left. 

“You’d think he’d want to avoid Bakugou after what happened, not run after him.” Tsuyu commented. Link nodded in agreement. 

“Whatever he wants to talk about, it must be important.” Yaoyarozu murmured. 

The three talked for a few minutes longer, exchanging numbers before they all finally headed out. Once they were off the topic of Bakugou and Midoriya, he’d found that the two were actually pretty fun, though each reserved in their own ways. Momo, as he’d been asked to call her, had a very refined, charismatic personality, and Tsu was very blunt, but also well-meaning and even funny when she wanted to be. 

He was proud of himself, honestly. Making friends had never come easy to him, too shy and, admittedly, stand-offish to really get close to anyone. His unwillingness to speak certainly didn’t help him either. But his classmates here seemed kind, actually interested in him and what he thought. 

He glanced up towards the sky, taking in the gradient hues of orange, pink, and navy blue, sun already disappeared past the treeline. It was beautiful, but he felt like it was incomplete somehow. He didn’t know why, but he’d always felt like that.

He got to the train station just in time to board, mind still fixated on the, to him, unnatural emptiness of the sky, forever missing some crucial piece that he could never know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took so long, but I'm actually really proud of it. 
> 
> P.S. I might be putting a poll or two up eventually regarding the direction of certain aspects of this. I'll link the polls in the notes if I do! Bye <3


	3. Study Session

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link has an unfortunate run in with the press, and Bakugo saves him. Later, he has a study session with some friends. Someone leaves a gift on his windowsill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Admittedly, this chapter is mostly just about Link and setting some of his background and home life. Also I feel I should note, I'm using ASL rules for his sign language, though there hasn't been much so far. I know this takes place in japan, but I am far more familiar with ASL and how it works than any other sign language. It won't make too much of a difference except for the use of fingerspelling, which, while possible in JSL isn't used very much if at all most of the time. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy and as usual don't be afraid to tell me what you think!

School had been... difficult, today. It had started with the press outside the school gates, swarming like flies to rotten fruit, blocking off nearly all entry or exit. 

_“Hey! You there, you’re a UA student, right? What’s it like being taught by All Might?” The reporter had asked, already in his face before he’d even reached the bulk of the press. Link blinked in surprise, and then his expression returned to the tired one he’d been wearing before he was accosted. He brushed past her as politely as he could. _

_“Hey, what’s the deal? You think you’re too good to talk to us or something?” She’d said accusingly, and he flinched at the familiar anger. It was common, of course, for people to misunderstand his silence. And of course it only made it worse, not that she could know that. _

_Link was determined to just slip through the crowd altogether, but then she grabbed his shoulder with surprising strength, perfectly manicured nails digging into his shirt jacket. The hero-in-training sighed, turning to face the woman. She sneered, which he imagined was her sarcastic way of giving him a smile, and then- _

_“Oi, gremlin!” He heard a voice shout, and suddenly he was surrounded by the smell of burnt sugar as Bakugou grabbed the back of his blazer collar and hauled him back like some sort of cat. He huffed, expression somewhere between grateful and annoyed as the swarm of reporters parted like the red sea for the spiky blond shoving and growling at anyone who came anywhere near the two of them. _

_Finally, he dropped him just inside the barrier of UA’s gate, and Link fixed his clothes, frowning cautiously at the boy._

‘Thanks’ _Link held the card out, and Bakugou scoffed, pushing the hand - and card - away from him with a surprising lack of malicious intent._

_“Don’t bother with that shit, dumbass gremlin. I didn’t forget what you said yesterday, you know.” Bakugou leaned in slightly to say it, and Link felt his hackles rise, all too aware of when he was being threatened. Link didn’t have a card on him for this particular scenario, so instead he just huffed and bared his teeth. Bakugou seemed to get the point, anyway, because his eyes narrowed like he was considering something, but then he stepped back and walked off, Link following him a short ways behind._

School had been fine after that, though the class officer elections were surprisingly high energy. Link himself didn’t have much interest, but it’d taken some thought as to who he’d vote for. Midoriya was his first thought, remembering his quick thinking and determination in the battle trials only a few days earlier, but he was also incredibly anxious, and, he thought with an apologetic wince, a bit of a pushover. He’d settled on Yaoyorozu in the end, appreciating her general kindness and level-headedness, something he knew would come in handy to deal with some of the rowdier students. 

It’d ended in a tie between Yaoyorozu and Midoriya, and a secondary vote declared the girl the winner. Midoriya seemed flustered that he’d gotten voted for at all, though there was a bit of a relieved glint to his eye that Link attributed to the boy not actually being made president. 

After that was lunch, and with it came the break-in. He was in the classroom at the time, along with Yaoyorozu (Momo, as she insisted), Tsuyu, Jiro, Shouji, Ojiro, Koda, and Hagakure, so he’d thankfully been away from the mass panic that’d apparently ensued down there. He wasn’t surprised when he’d looked out the window to find the press swarming around the door just as they had the gate, Aizawa and Present Mic keeping them from getting into the school. 

Eventually, though, that crisis passed as well, and his classmates started to filter back in. This also saw him reassuring a frazzled Midoriya that yes, he did still deserve to be vice president even though he hadn’t helped (it’s not like any other classes’ representatives had stepped in, after all) and no, he shouldn’t hand the position off to Iida even if he had been a great help in that situation. 

_“I guess…” Midoriya murmured, still unsure._

‘You need to work on your confidence anyway. You have the leadership skills, and being vice president will help you get where you need to be to use them.’ _He wrote, turning his notebook around to show, and Midoriya gave him a small, grateful smile. _

_“I suppose you’re right.” Midoriya nodded, and headed back to his desk just as Aizawa returned to start class again._

The rest of the day passed without incident, thankfully, and now he was packing his backpack up to go home, most of his classmates doing the same. 

“Hey, Link!” He turned at the sound, and found Uraraka inches from his face, a wide smile and warm eyes pointed up at him. Link didn’t move back, ignoring the short look of surprise on the girls face at his seeming lack of discomfort. He raised a brow at her, and she giggled. 

“I was wondering if maybe you’d want to have a little study group today? Just you, me, Deku, and Iida?” She asked, expression hopeful. He sighed, faking a thoughtful expression as though he wasn’t sure. 

“C’mon, please please please! I wanna have group bonding time, and there’s no better way to do that than with shared suffering!” She exclaimed, puffing her cheeks out and bringing up her hands in fists in a show of determination, and he huffed out a laugh, finally conceding to her. He gave her a nod and she cheered, hooking her hand in his elbow and pulling him over to where the other two were waiting by the door. 

“He said yes! Well, there weren’t any words, but he nodded!” She informed them. 

“We still haven’t decided where we’re going, Uraraka.” Iida reminded, expression as serious as ever. The bubbly girl only shrugged, smile still on her face. 

“Well, I mean, just one of our houses right? Mine’s a bit busy, bit if you don’t mind that, then…” She trailed off, offer lingering in the air for a moment. 

“Mine’s not exactly… busy, per se, but my mom can be kind of a lot for new people…” Midoriya said softly. Link pursed his lips thoughtfully. 

_‘I could always invite them to my apartment… ‘_ Just as he finished the thought, Uraraka turned to him. 

“What do you think? You look like you wanna say something.” Her smile turned a little reassuring as he pulled out his notepad, writing quickly with the attached pen. They waited patiently for his response, shuffling a bit out of the way of the door to make way for their classmates trying to leave. 

_‘We could go to my apartment. I don’t think anyone would be around, so it’d be quiet.’_ They all read the note. 

“That sounds perfect then. We can all head there together!” Iida gives a little chop to the air with his hand as he says it. 

“We should get going then, we don’t want to miss the train!” And with that, they were off. 

~~~

A little less than an hour later, they were all walking into Link’s apartment, giving curious glances around. 

“So this is where Link lives..?” Uraraka mumbled to herself, picking up a telescope on the table covered in little paintings of seagulls, carefully turning it over in her hands. Link pulled out his notebook again. 

_‘That’s my cousin, Aryll’s. The school she goes to has dorms, so she only comes back on weekends and holidays. She left it here to “remember her by”’_ The pink cheeked girl laughed, setting the telescope down. 

“Your cousin seems like quite the character.” She said, though her expression made it seem more like a question. Link nodded solemnly, making her giggle again. 

“So, where are we going to study?” Midoriya asked. He seemed a little uncomfortable, as though he wasn’t sure what he should be doing in this situation. 

Link made a gesture to follow him, and led them through the small, blue and green themed galley kitchen into a cozy little dining area, with a white table and chairs and blue curtains speckled with orange-red flowers. They settled in, studying and working on homework together. It was nearly an hour later that the conversation started to stray from their studies. 

“I almost forgot to ask, but where are your parents?” Uraraka asked casually, backtracking at Link’s grimace. “Oh, you don’t have to answer that of course! I was just curious-” Link cut her off, putting up a hand to signal for her to wait, and he wrote in his notepad, as he’d been doing for most of the afternoon. 

_‘My dad was a pro hero, he died ten years ago, when Toxic Chainsaw first became active, and my mom died when I was still a baby. My uncle’s usually traveling for work since he’s a businessman, so usually it’s just me and sometimes Aryll.'_ Uraraka blanched. 

“I’m… so sorry, Link.” Link shrugged. 

_‘It was a long time ago. I barely remember my dad.’_ The three glanced at each other. The mood of the room felt stifling now, so Link stood and headed for the kitchen. 

“Well, I guess we’re taking a break now.” He heard from behind him, and he couldn’t help but snort at the somewhat exasperated tone, working on getting the cooking utensils he needed. 

Link had always loved cooking. It was cathartic, and helped him clear his mind in the same way a good workout often did. Plus, Aryll always seemed to enjoy it, which helped. He set a pot on the stove, cranking up the burner all the way and starting to put his ingredients in. Carrots, butter, milk, some flour for good measure, and then left it to cook. 

When he finally brought the food out to them on a tray, they all gave him grateful smiles (well, Iida’s expression couldn’t be considered a smile, but it was the intent of the thing Link cared about), and set aside their phones and notebooks to eat. Uraraka was the first, and she immediately froze as soon as her lips closed around the spoon. Slowly, she pulled the spoon away, and they watched as she chewed and swallowed with some amount of effort. 

“How is it?” Midoriya asked with increasing concern. Uraraka hesitated, a calculating look flashed across her face, gone so fast Link wasn’t sure if he actually saw it. 

“It’s actually pretty good!” She smiled cloyingly sweet at the green-haired boy. Link was still watching them intently for their reactions. Midoriya’s brow furrowed. 

“Come now, Midoriya! What reason would Uraraka have to lie to us? Besides, we’re in Link’s house, it would be rude to not eat what he made for us.” Iida lectured, and the other boy relented, each of them trying the soup. 

Midoriya choked, face drawn tight as he swallowed down the bite. Iida’s expression was unreadable, and he put the spoon down almost robotically. Link gave them a satisfied nod. 

_‘I’m glad you like it. Aryll used to react like that when I first started cooking for her. Now she barely even blinks. It’s nice to see people so openly enjoying my cooking again.’_ Link dug in to his own food, missing the horrified looks his friends exchanged. 

“Hey, Link… Where did you learn to cook?” Iida asked slowly. Link gave them a gesture to wait a moment, and quickly downed the rest of the soup before turning to the notepad again. 

_‘I taught myself, why?’_ All three of them sighed. 

“No reason. We were just curious…” Uraraka told him, expression unreadable. Link nodded sagely. 

_‘I could teach you guys too, if you want.’_

“Link, don’t take this the wrong way, but I really don’t think that’s a good idea…” Midoriya murmured. 

_‘That’s fair. The kitchen can get chaotic when more people are involved.’_ The three exchanged a look of relief. Link pushed his notepad a bit away from him to resituate his notes, and the other three quickly did the same, stacking their own nearly untouched bowls of carrot stew on his to clean up later. 

~~~

_‘That went well.’_ Link thought as he waved goodbye to his friends. They all waved back, saying their farewells as they went, and Link closed the door behind them. They were all heading to the station together, so he wasn’t too worried about them despite the sun setting low on the horizon. 

The apartment seemed a lot colder now that they were gone, he noticed absently as he cleaned up. He hummed to himself as he did, voice soft and hoarse with its typical disuse. 

Link could only really bring himself to talk around Aryll, or by himself, and even then he still had trouble. He hated it sometimes, how he could be confident and happy and relaxed, but the second he even thinks of speaking his throat seemed to close up, lungs burning like he was out of air and eyes stinging as though ready to cry. It made things difficult, especially when people didn’t understand, and the way he was treated in those times only made it worse. 

He was glad he had friends now, ones who were kind and understanding to him about his inability to talk. He was glad for a lot of things really. 

Link found himself back in his room after cleaning up, and he paused in the doorway as a glint on the windowsill caught his eye. Approaching, he realized it was a small, green gem, glasslike in its translucence, propped up against his window to make it visible over the frame. He opened the window carefully and grabbed it, quickly shutting the window after himself and glancing out suspiciously, even knowing whoever did it was likely gone. 

He laid down on his bed, ignoring the fact that he still had his uniform (sans blazer) on and inspecting the gem in his hand. It was odd, for sure, but…

There was nothing he could really do about this. It didn’t seem dangerous, so he put it in a drawer of his desk, ignoring the strange familiarity he felt for it. He looked out his window again as he closed the curtains, and for a moment he was sure he saw a flash of white on a balcony across the street, but it disappeared as soon as he noticed it, seeming to be swallowed up by the darkness of the evening. Link frowned apprehensively, shutting the curtains tight and heading over to his bed. 

He was the only one home, and no one would believe him if he tried to bring it up, so he decided to leave it be. If it was something dangerous, then he’d just have to deal with that as it came. He was a hero student, after all. He could defend himself, even from weird people (or animals maybe, he reasoned) who left gemstones on peoples windowsills at night. 

Despite his own justifications, he didn’t fall asleep until the sun was starting to rise over the horizon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Link cannot cook, don't @ me


	4. A New Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link makes a new friend, and gives a bit of an explanation of his quirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is going to be the last of the introduction chapters. I think I've done all I need to for the moment to set up Link's personality, quirk, and some of his friendships, so by next chapter we'll be moving on to USJ! I plan to spend a couple chapters there, and we'll also get our first semi-introduction to Ganon, though due to the nature of the USJ arc I won't be able to do a whole lot of exposition at that point. But don't worry, it'll come eventually! 
> 
> Anyway folks, I hope you enjoy, and don't be afraid to leave a comment or shoot me an ask on my tumblr to tell me what you think!

The next few days at school were surprisingly quiet. 

Link knew it was probably because of the break in. Between how seemingly easily the press had gotten past the gate, and the panicked reactions from even the older hero course students, the incident had left people with much to think about. 

The tense, stifled atmosphere made his skin crawl, and so he’d started roaming the grounds during lunch, taking in particular to a small wooded area dotted with pretty blue and white flowers (silent princess, he remembered, though he didn’t know why he knew). The place became more of a haven for him each day he returned. 

Today he was spending lunch in the branches of a particularly sturdy looking tree, laying on his back with an arm under his head and soaking in the warm sun and cool spring breeze as his eyes started to slip shut of their own accord. It was peaceful out here, the air filled with the sounds of leaves rustling and birds singing, nature unbothered by his presence within it. 

“Yo, are you dead?” A voice called up to him from the ground, and he was jolted out of his near-asleep state. Instinct took over, and he jumped from the tree like a startled cat, landing on the ground in a crouch and fixing the newcomer with an impassive stare as he rose to his feet. 

The boy, for his part, seemed more than a little surprised, though the effect of Link’s attempt at an intimidating stance was somewhat mitigated by the fact that the boy was both taller and broader than him by a fair bit. There was a moment of silence. 

“So… Not dead, then.” He nodded to himself, and Link softened slightly, relaxing and looking him over curiously. He seemed tired, with dark bags under his eyes and wild, unkempt purple hair. There was another beat of silence, and the purple-haired boy sighed in annoyance, expression twisting into a sort of grimace. 

“I’m assuming you’ve heard about my quirk already then? Disappointing, but not surprising. I guess even the great U.A isn’t immune to judgemental wannabes.” He sneered. Link blinked once, twice, confusion finally taking over his somewhat blank expression. 

He did recognize the tone, though, it was a reaction he’d grown used to, though admittedly he usually only heard it from adults. Link frowned as he pulled out his introduction card again, as well as a second card, one he hadn’t had to use since coming to U.A.

_‘Hi, my name’s Link. I don’t talk, but I’m fluent in sign language. Nice to meet you!’ _

_‘I’m sorry, I’m not very good at social cues sometimes. If you could explain what I did wrong, I can try to fix it.’_

He handed the cards over and watched the boy read them. Aryll had written them for him originally, having a much better eye for tone than he ever had, and he’d never been more grateful for them than in these exact types of moments. Meanwhile, the purple haired boy’s expression morphed, quickly turning apologetic. He also seemed uncomfortable somehow, like he’d just realized something terrible. 

“Shit, I’m sorry.” He said with a sigh. “I’m… I’m Shinsou. I shouldn’t have, you know, assumed you were… Yeah.” For what felt like the hundredth time, an awkward beat of silence passed between the two, before Link pulled his notepad from his blazer pocket and flipped it open, pulling the pen from where it was tucked in the spiral. 

_‘It’s alright. I’ve had worse. You’re not even top ten, probably.’_ Shinsou read it, chuckling at the last sentence. 

“I understand the feeling.” 

_‘I can imagine. You said something about your quirk…?’_ Shinsou frowned at the message thoughtfully, as though considering. He took a deep breath before responding, form tensing slightly.

“My quirk… it’s called Brainwash. Basically, if you respond to something I say, I can control you.” He paused, gauging Link’s reaction, though the blonde just continued to watch him with rapt attention. 

“It doesn’t affect you though, since it has to be verbal. And it doesn’t work over the phone, either…” Link nodded at this. 

_‘It wouldn’t affect my classmate Koda, either. The only time he speaks out loud is to animals.’_ Shinsou hummed thoughtfully, the odd, almost stressed expression from earlier flitting across his face momentarily. 

_‘If you don’t mind me asking, what brought you out here, anyway? I didn’t even hear you until you said something to me.’_ Link wrote, thinking back to the beginning of their conversation. Shinsou was strangely stealthy considering he hadn’t actually been trying to sneak up on him. 

“Oh, one of my classmates saw you from the cafeteria window. She got it into her head that you were probably dead, and the others worked themselves up about it so I decided to come out. Just so they’d calm down, you know.” Shinsou explained, gesturing up to a window on one of the upper floors, a fondly exasperated expression on his face. 

_‘I see. Well, I’m alive.’_ As soon as Shinsou looked up from the response, he did a dramatic bow, putting one foot behind the other, one hand over his heart, and moving the other in a wide sweeping arc to the side as he bent at the waist, coming up just as Shinsou started laughing. 

“I can see that. Are you always this dorky?” He asked through soft chuckles, and Link grinned wide. 

_‘I’ve picked up a few things from my classmates. The bow was all me though.’_ Shinsou shakes his head, a smirk of his own settling on his face. 

“I’ll keep that in mind. Anyway, if you’re alive, then…” He shrugged nonchalantly, taking a couple steps backward towards the school. “I’ll see you around, Link. Have fun with your whole ‘playing dead in a tree’ thing.” He gave a mock salute, finally turning on his heel and heading towards the school in earnest. 

Even knowing Shinsou couldn’t see him, Link raised up a hand and waved at the boy’s back with a soft smile. He was actually kind of proud of himself. Even with the initial miscommunication on both their parts, he hadn’t fumbled too much after. It was progress. 

And, he thought as he gathered his things at the base of the tree, Shinsou was fun, for the brief conversation they’d had. More relaxed than most of his classmates, with the notable exception of Kaminari, Mina, and Sero. His quirk was also pretty interesting. The thought brought another smile to his face, imagining how Midoriya would have reacted to it. Probably with plenty of awe, compliments, and questions, considering how excited he’d been even for Link’s own, admittedly kind of boring quirk. 

~

‘Basically, my quirk is that I know how to use basically every weapon, as well as a couple of martial arts, and a few instruments, oddly enough.’ _He’d explained to Midoriya, who nodded and started to scribble in his journal at near breakneck speed. Or break-hand speed, he supposed. They were at lunch, a few days before the press break-in, Link sitting across from the greenette, Iida, and Uraraka, with Momo and Tsuyu on either side of him, close enough to watch him write without making him feel closed in. _

_“You said basically? What weapons can’t you use?” The forest-haired boy asked, pen stilling as he waited for a response. Link considered the question for a moment, before gesturing for him to pass over his journal. Midoriya hesitated, but slid it across the table, and Link grabbed his own pen and started to write, going slow to write more neatly than his usual scrawl._

‘I know how to use most weaponry to the point of it being essentially instinct, with the notable exception of certain modern weapons, guns specifically. I also know some basic martial arts techniques, though I’m unsure of what style they are. Among instruments, I know ocarina, flute, harp, and guitar.’ _He wrote, separating and bulleting each point. He slid the journal across the desk, and Midoriya read it over with an expression of only growing curiosity._

_“I wonder why you can’t use guns…” He murmured. “Also I can’t help but wonder what about those specific instruments makes your quirk let you use them? And how exactly the knowledge and skill comes to you, considering how difficult it would be to maintain that kind of mastery over so many different things, so is it really just a quirk that adds to your instincts? And what if-” Midoriya continued to mutter rapidly, starting to scribble in his notebook again with a concentrated look on his face. _

~

Link had enjoyed the brief conversation on his quirk, as well as helping his friend feed his ever growing curiosity. Midoriya was one of a kind, that was for sure. Things gathered, he made his way back into the school building, eyes focused on the carpeted floor of the hallway. He really did think Shinsou would like Midoriya, though he wasn’t sure how the tired boy would react to his friends’ more… odd habits, just thinking back to that day alone. 

~

_“There he goes again…” Uraraka said quietly, giggling softly at the boy’s dedication to his note-taking. _

_“His drive and work ethic are admirable, though the muttering can be a bit… unsettling.” Iida added, giving his customary little chop to the air to emphasize his words. Link nodded thoughtfully. He didn’t personally mind, but he could see how others might think so. _

_“Maybe, but it’s outweighed by how polite and sunshiney he is, you know? He’s too nice for the mumbling to really put anyone off.” Link nodded his head again at Tsuyu’s words, eyes narrowing appraisingly at the teen, who was still somehow oblivious to their conversation. _

‘I would die for him.’ _Momo sighed as she watched him write it, and he turned it around for the other two to see. Iida frowned, though he didn’t make a comment, and Uraraka let out a short laugh, eyes shining with mirth even as she shook her head in faux exasperation. _

_“You’ve known him for two weeks, Link.” Tsuyu pointed out, and Link gave a solemn nod of his head. _

_“It’s almost impressive how he hasn’t noticed us talking about him this whole time.” Momo commented, finally reaching across the table and gently tapping the hand not holding his pen. Midoriya looked up finally, surprise and a little embarrassment entering his expression at seeing everyone staring at him. _

_“Oh… Sorry, was I bugging you guys?” He asked softly, and his expression turned to confusion as Uraraka started giggling. _

_“You’re fine, Midori.” Tsuyu said over the sound, and Link smiled reassuringly at him, eyes shining with mirth at the situation. _

_“Midoriya, we should go over the student council meeting notes before class starts. We have to explain the main announcements, remember?” Momo informed the boy. _

_“Oh! Right. I almost forgot about that.” He chuckled sheepishly. “We can head back to class now, then? It’ll give us a bit of time to talk.” He offered, and she nodded, standing and starting to grab her things. Midoriya rushed to do the same, and after a quick goodbye they were heading out of the cafeteria. _

~

Link pushed open the door to his classroom, ignoring Bakugo’s typical obnoxious grandstanding to go to his desk (also ignoring the way the explosive blond’s eyes locked on him as he passed), giving a little wave to his neighbor as he did. The bichromatic teen only glowered at him, and he pursed his lips somewhat uncomfortably as he sat down, only relaxing once the boy had finally looked away. Todoroki, as he’d learned, wasn’t exactly the most friendly sort, sometimes actively rebuffing any attempt Link made to be nice to him. He was trying to be optimistic about it, though admittedly that cold glare made his hackles rise in a way even Bakugou didn’t. 

“Hey, Link.” Tsuyu called as she approached, face as impassive as ever. “You look like you have something on your mind.” Link paused for a moment, but smiled up at her, pulling his notepad out. 

_‘I met someone pretty cool today during lunch. I was thinking about maybe introducing him to Midoriya sometime. His quirk sounded really interesting from what he told me.’_ Tsuyu hummed a short acknowledgement, considering the idea. 

“Well, if you think he’s cool then he can’t be too bad. And Midori wouldn’t pass up the chance, for sure.” She finally stated, and his smile widened slightly, pleased by her conclusion. 

Just then, Aizawa slumped in through the door, burrowed in his sleeping bag as always (Link didn’t have a clue how he managed to move around like that) and already giving the students an annoyed glare, wordlessly prompting them back to their seats. And with that, class began. 

Link settled in to work, listening to the lecture with rapt attention. Unfortunately for him, he also missed the appraising stare of a certain peppermint colored classmate.


	5. Unforeseen Simulation Joint I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the way to the USJ, Link tries to follow the now familiar tug on his mind. Villains break in, and through a splitting headache he wonders why the one with fiery hair and gold eyes makes him feel like he's dying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was a bit conflicted over this chapter. I know Link is the holder of the triforce of courage, but he's still just a teenager, and one dealing with quite a lot at that. He still has fear, and he hasn't quite learned how to deal with that yet. But don't worry, he'll figure everything out eventually :) 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy and don't be afraid to tell me what you think!

A few days after his meeting with Shinsou, Link found himself in hero costume, preparing to go on a field trip for a special rescue training day. It was early, at least an hour before school was usually meant to start, and he yawned silently as he fiddled with an extendable metal staff he’d had made for him after the battle simulations, clicking the button on the side occasionally to practice extending and shortening it as he wanted. The chatter of his classmates died down as Momo started herding them in the direction of the bus, and he forced himself to attention, returning the shortened staff to the magnets newly attached to his belt. 

“Alright everyone, please line up in an orderly fashion! Have we got everyone?” Momo directed the question to Midoriya, standing at her side with a clipboard and pencil. He glanced over the line again, mentally counting them up and checking them off on his attendance sheet. 

“Yeah, that’s everyone. I think we’re about ready to go, once Aizawa gets here.” Midoriya affirmed, tucking the clipboard under his arm. 

It took only a minute longer for Aizawa to arrive, and a few minutes after that they were on the bus and starting to depart. 

“Hey, Link, wanna play flashcards?” Uraraka asked the slightly sleepy blonde. He nodded, blinking away a bit of tiredness as she reached into her bag (they’d all been allowed to bring bags for their personal belongings, though they weren’t allowed to bring them inside USJ itself) and pulled out a fairly large stack of flashcards she’d made herself. She pulled off the rubber band from around them and handed them over to Link. 

Each card had a word or letter on it, with a cartoonish doodle of the corresponding sign on the back. Link had helped her make them, including the entire alphabet as well as some more commonly used signs. Link shuffled the deck thoroughly, and held up the top card to let Uraraka see the word written on it. She stared intently for a few seconds, trying to remember the word. Out of the corner of his eye, Link saw a few of his classmates half-watching them, and held back a smile. Midoriya, of course, wasn’t being remotely subtle, staring outright with possibly more focus than even Uraraka herself. 

Uraraka drew his attention back as she shifted, posture straightening as she brought her hands up somewhat hesitantly. 

_‘School’_ She signed, and he turned the card around to check the word, nodding when he saw she was right. She smiled brightly, and repeated the sign to herself to reinforce the information in her head.

They continued this for a few minutes, content with the simple memory game to keep their attention. Eventually, Uraraka slipped up, mixing up the signs for _‘Ask’_ and _‘Question,’_ due to their similarity to each other, but Link was cut off before he could correct her. 

“Wrong, Round Face! It’s this way, not that, dumbass.” Bakugou demonstrated the correct sign, and everyone on the bus (sans Aizawa and the driver, of course) paused for a moment, staring at him incredulously. The explosive boy practically snarled at the sudden attention on him. 

“What?” He shouted challengingly. 

“Dude… How did you even know that? Uraraka and him only started the flashcards like, a week ago.” Kaminari asked, and the look Bakugou sent him bordered on deadly. Sero, from next to the electric blonde, stifled a cackling laugh, though was luckily ignored. 

“I started learning after the first week, Dunce Face. It’s not like he’s the only person who uses sign language, and it’d be a real shit show if I couldn’t talk to the people I’m trying to save.” He explained, tone defensive. Kirishima sniffled, and Link glanced over to him in concern. 

“That’s…” He paused, wiping a tear from his eye. “That’s so manly! You’re so cool, Bakubro!” He told him, watery grin nearly blinding. Link found his gaze drawn to his shark-like teeth for a moment, and his eyes narrowed for a moment as he felt that familiar tug at his subconscious. 

He glanced away, looking out the window instead as he focused on that feeling. It was something that had followed him his whole life, but it had only gotten worse the past few weeks (especially with the incident at his house, which had kept him up the whole night fixating on the little green crystal only feet away from him in his desk drawer). He couldn’t help it at this point, letting the conversation around him fade to a dull murmur in his ears as he cleared his mind, concentrating on the tug at the back of his mind. 

It felt more like a solid presence than anything else, like the familiarity was his minds attempt to drag whatever it was into the light. He took a breath. Trying to think about it directly felt… wrong. Like he knew, somewhere, that he shouldn’t be trying to find whatever it was his mind was hiding from him. A pit formed low in his gut, unwanted anxiety, discomfort, even anger building there, and he shuddered as he shook the thoughts from his mind as best as he could, trying to force the feelings to dissipate with them. 

_‘No digging into my subconscious for weird pseudo-memories. Got it.’_ He thought, studiously ignoring the concerned look Uraraka sent his way as he refocused on the conversation. 

“It’s pretty telling that we’ve only known you for a few weeks and we already know your personality is crap steeped in sewage.” Kaminari commented, sly smirk and narrowed eyes focused on Bakugou. 

“What the hell are you saying?! I’ll kill you!” He shrieked in return, expression firmly planted in pure, murderous rage. He was leaning over the guardrail of the divider, feet planted on the side and arms gripping the bar in a way that nearly defied gravity. 

_‘What did I miss?’_ Link thought, shooting a sharp glare at the boy for his harsh words. He caught it, and sneered at the boy, anger fully redirected. 

“What, you got something to say? Huh, Gremlin?” He challenged. Link’s jaw set, and he stared the boy down with a look approaching contempt. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Midoriya looking between the others and Bakugou with something like panic on his face, and his expression worsened slightly, reminded of the greenette’s near deathly fear of the blonde. 

“Hey! Stop messing around. We’re here.” Aizawa interrupted the stare down, eyeing each of them warily as the tension started to dissipate. Link was the first to break eye contact, sliding his bag under the seat as he got up and started for the exit. 

The class filed off the bus, far less orderly than when they’d gotten on (to Momo and, oddly enough, Iida’s chagrin) and Aizawa led them into the building after a quick reminder to be respectful to their other instructors for the day. 

One of the others was waiting for them already as they entered, clad in what looked like a puffy space suit. They were barely visible through the visor, but Link could make out what looked like stars, like the person held entire nebulas on their skin. They looked over the class with some amount of excitement, introducing themselves as Thirteen, the rescue hero. 

“Landslide, shipwreck, fire, storm, etcetera, I made this training ground with different types of accidents and disasters in mind. It’s called the Unforeseen Simulation Joint! Or, USJ!” They pointed out different areas of the training grounds out, and dramatically posed as they finished their explanation. 

_‘Isn’t that kind of like Universal Studios Japan?’_ His head tilted slightly in confusion, watching as Aizawa moved to talk quietly with them about something. The conversation lasted only a minute, Thirteen giving a three sign to him at the end, and he sighed irritably, turning back to the class. 

“Alright, All Might isn’t going to be here today, so we’ll split into two groups instead of one. First, I assume Thirteen has something to say to all of you?” He directed the last part to the rescue hero, who nodded somberly. 

“Yes. I have three things to tell you. Or… four, or five, or six…” They paused for a second, counting on their fingers. “Anyway… You all know what my quirk is, right? It’s called Black Hole, and I can use it to suck up anything and turn it to dust.” They started to explain. 

“You’ve been able to save people from all kinds of disasters with it, right?” Midoriya asked cheerfully, nearly bouncing on the spot. 

“Yes. But my quirk also has the power to kill easily.” They said, and the air seemed to shift, a chill settling over the students at their statement. “Some of you also have quirks like that, right? In a society like ours, personal quirks have been registered and stringently regulated, so it doesn’t seem like much of a problem at first glance. But you can’t forget that there are many whose quirks could kill with one misstep, whether they intend to or not.” They continued, and Link frowned deeply. 

He was familiar already with the idea. It was how his father died, after all. But more importantly, he had seen it in the quirks of his own classmates. Bakugou, Todoroki, and Tokoyami were the prime examples, of course, but Mina, Kaminari, Midoriya, Aoyama, even Uraraka could seriously hurt someone if they weren’t careful. He was lucky, at least, that he knew his quirk didn’t have that type of capacity, though his came with it’s own challenges. 

“With Aizawa’s tests, you learned about the hidden capacity of your own powers, and with All Might’s combat training, you experienced the danger of using those quirks against others. Here, you’ll be getting a fresh start, learning how to use your quirk to save lives instead. You don’t have quirks so that you can use them to harm others. I hope that by the end of this you’ll all understand that you can use your powers to help, too.” Thirteen finished, and Aizawa stepped back in. 

“Alright, first thing-” Suddenly, the lights lining the domed ceiling of the USJ started to spark, each dancing with electricity which shattered the bulbs, dimming the area. Aizawa and Thirteen turned, watching as a purple mist swirled around the center of the courtyard, forming together into one mass. Link inched forward on instinct, hand already reaching for the staff at his hip as he scanned the mist in increasing concern. 

Something appeared in the portal for a moment, and he caught a glimpse of blood-red eyes peering out into the USJ before they disappeared. Aizawa cursed, moving in front of the students and calling for Thirteen to stick with them. He heard a few fearful murmurs of his classmates, and Link’s gaze snapped back to the portal just in time to watch a man walk out of the portal. He had blue hair, sickly pale skin, and ash grey hands nearly entirely covering his arms, neck, and head. He looked up at the group near the entrance, and Link met his eyes for a moment again, tensing at the pure malice in them. Others followed behind the man, each just as unsettling as their blue-haired leader. 

He scanned over the crowd, and he froze suddenly, his own blue eyes meeting the gold ones of a tall, muscular man in what looked like armor. His long, fire red hair fell to his lower back, and he had skin the color of terracotta and eyes that screamed of death, despite their honeyed hue. Link choked down a breath, dread filling him at the sight of this man, the gentle tug at his subconscious less than an hour earlier paling in comparison to the head-splitting pull he felt, taking him over until his vision was tunneled on the stranger, smirking at him in a way that made him feel like a cornered animal staring down their hunter. 

“Is this like the entrance exam, where the training’s already started?” Link heard faintly behind him. 

“Don’t move!” Aizawa shouted at them over his shoulder, making them freeze in place. There was a pause, only a breath, like their teacher was reluctant, afraid even, to say his next words. Link already knew what they would be. 

“Villains have breached the USJ!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stars I'm so tired...


	6. Unforeseen Simulation Joint II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link learns a little more about himself, though he doesn’t realize it yet. Midoriya is nearly killed, but the heroes manage to intercept in the nick of time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, I was sort of considering having him, you know, interact with the plot, but I didn’t want to change everything up this early. Also, I really, really wanted to get the ball rolling on him learning more about who he is and what he’s supposed to be doing. So if you wanted him in the thick of things, sorry! I promise he’ll be getting into stuff later. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

_“Villains have breached the USJ!”_

Link wasn’t exactly sure what had happened immediately after that. He remembered Yaoyorozu and Todoroki talking (the alarm systems were cut, or at least the dichromatic boy thought so), some sort of talking purple mist, Bakugou and Kirishima rushing for it, and then he’d suddenly tumbled backwards like his feet had been kicked from underneath him, vision suddenly obscured by dark purple. 

And then he’d landed on his ass in the middle of a forest. 

He was sure he was still in USJ, he could still see the supports and glass ceiling of the dome above, but he was far enough that he couldn’t hear any fighting. Or really anything for that matter. It was entirely too quiet for a forest, no sounds of animals or even leaves rustling, just the faintest sounds of the grass under his feet and armor pieces brushing softly together as he moved through the brush. 

It was silent save for him. Until it wasn’t. 

Something small and red tore through the bushes at high speed, shrieking and squealing like a pig. It stumbled right into him, and they both froze, staring at each other in surprise. The thing was only about half his size, and it looked like some sort of goblin, with a comically large pig nose, beady eyes, and wrinkly, mottled red skin, with sharp claws clutching at a crude wooden club. 

_‘Bokoblin’_ His brain supplied unhelpfully. The staring contest lasted only half a moment longer, and it was shrieking again, swinging its club around like a bat. Link scrambled back and grabbed his staff, extending it to spear length and jabbing at the bokoblin as he got to his feet. 

It only took a few hits before it fell to the ground, exploding into a cloud of reddish-purple smoke. As the smoke dissipated, Link noticed a small pile of teeth and horns, presumably from the bokoblin. 

_‘Shit. Did I just kill it?’_ He thought with a wince, letting out a low breath. _‘To be fair, it did attack me, but…’_ He poked at the pile with his staff, and glanced around half-expecting more to jump at him out of the brush. 

“Hmph. You were never so hesitant to kill monsters, before.” A voice resonated from somewhere behind him, and he spun, already dropping into a defensive stance with his spear. 

It was the man from before. He was possibly more terrifying up close, tall and formidable even without the death stare currently locked onto him. At this distance Link could see that his armor wasn’t quite as protective as he’d assumed at first glance, a mix of brightly colored cloth and some type of golden plating, matching the jewelry and piercings which adorned the mans face. He looked young, too, in his twenties at the latest, though Link wasn’t sure why that particular fact felt odd to him. 

Meanwhile, the man seemed to be sizing Link up as well, taking in his hero costume and weapon with something that looked like disapproval. His eyes narrowed after a long moment, expression turning somewhat thoughtful. 

“You don’t remember me, do you?” He asked. Link hesitated. 

_‘Ganon… The Calamity.’_ Finally his mind gave him something useful, and he frowned at how right it seemed, how familiar, though he was sure he’d never heard the name before. 

“Ah, not well, right?” The man, Ganon, chuckled patronizingly, taking a step closer. Link raised his staff threateningly, and his smile seemed genuine for a moment, like the very notion of Link attacking now was funny to him. “I used to be just like you. Soft, hopeful, kind, _weak_.” He spit the word with malice. “Living in a world where everything and nothing were familiar to me, from the sky, to the sea, to the people around me. But then I was… _enlightened_.” 

He took another step forward, grabbing onto the staff before Link could even think to move, and yanked it - and Link - towards him. Ganon’s other hand curled into his collar and lifted him, forcing Link to grip onto his wrist to anchor himself. 

“If I could kill you here, I would.” Ganon hissed, face twisting into a sneer. “But I need you alive if I want to find _her_, and believe me, I do.” 

His expression morphed again, and Link caught a momentary glimpse of something dark and manic in his aureate eyes as he was lifted just a little higher. 

“I might leave you a little challenge, though… Nothing you won’t survive, if you’re even half as good with a sword as you were. Doesn’t that sound fun? Getting reintroduced to some old _friends_-” Before Ganon could do anything, however, a beam of nearly blinding lavender light cut between them, just barely grazing the taller man’s skin. 

Link reacted immediately, kicking out and catching Ganon in the jaw, pushing away from him and dropping to the ground. The villain thankfully dropped his staff, too, which he scooped up as he got to his feet, sprinting by his savior and grabbing his arm as he passed, forcing him to come along with. 

It was Aoyama, expression somewhat nauseous-looking from the sudden transition between using his quirk to sprinting through the forest at record speed. The frenchman didn’t complain though, likely just as happy as Link to be getting as far away from the menacing man as possible. 

Link slowed only when the brick ground of the courtyard came into view, finally able to hear what sounded like a fairly intense fight. He pushed Aoyama down into a cluster of bushes with what little gentleness he could manage in his adrenaline-fueled state, smothering the yelp the other blonde let out with a quick hand over his mouth. He settled over him, concealing the two of them in the foliage as well as he could as he listened for any sign of having been followed. After a long moment, he finally released Aoyama, relatively satisfied with their current safety, and all but melted into the surprisingly un-prickly bush. 

“Link, who… who was that?” Aoyama murmured to him, usually placid smile strained to the point of near nonexistence. “He seemed like he knew you.” 

Link shook his head a couple times, giving a few vague signs he knew the boy likely wouldn’t understand. His friend sighed. 

“_Si tu les dis…_” There was a pause, silent but for the sounds of the fight in the courtyard, a mix of yelling and the sound of stone cracking filtering over to them. Link sat up slowly, turning his gaze towards the fighting. 

Their view was still mostly blocked by foliage, but he could make out what looked like All Might and some type of bird-headed muscle-beast. He frowned and glanced at Aoyama. 

“I’ll be right behind you.” He said, reassuring despite the slight hesitancy in his tone. Link nodded and climbed out of the bush, inching towards the courtyard. They passed the treeline quickly enough, and slipped around the edge of the battlefield as they caught sight of three of their classmates hovering near the stairs, two more going up with a battered Aizawa being carried between them. Link paused at the sight of his teacher, half-dead and unconscious, and spared a glance back at the monstrous form currently fighting All Might as he started moving again, Aoyama practically clinging to him as they reached the group at the bottom of the stairs. 

“Link! Aoyama!” Kirishima exclaimed, the first to notice them. “We weren’t sure where you ended up. You guys good?” He asked. Bakugou cut in before Aoyama could respond for the both of them. 

“You look like shit, both of you. Did you spend this whole time rolling around in a bush or something?” They glanced at each other at that, missing the momentary change in the other three’s expressions at their somewhat fearful gazes. 

“Or something.” Aoyama said with a tone of finality. The explosive boy grit his teeth, but backed off, attention refocusing on the fight. From this angle, Link could see Midoriya, too, propped up on his elbows and staring at All Might and the weird muscled man fight with a look of horror on his face. He gasped, taking an almost involuntary step towards the fight. Hands grabbed his shoulders, pulling him back. 

“Absolutely fucking not, dumbass Gremlin. He shouldn’t even be in there, I’m not letting you anywhere near that shit.” Bakugou practically growled at him, and he blinked. 

_‘Since when did he care?’_ Link thought, but took a couple steps back anyway. He was let go as Bakugou finally moved away from him, seemingly satisfied for the moment with his compliance. 

Link glanced around, noticing Aoyama heading up the stairs to help carry Aizawa, and Todoroki eyeing him somewhat suspiciously. He returned that look, and the dichromatic boy turned away wordlessly. He turned back towards the fight too, just in time to watch All Might blast his opponent out of the USJ straight through the domed glass ceiling. He blinked, brows raised in surprise. 

He knew All Might was strong, but that…

“Is this a comic book or something?” Kirishima muttered next to him, seemingly just as in shock. “It’s like he nullified the shock absorption... His brute strength is crazy.” 

“What insane power… Does that mean he rushed at him so fast he couldn’t regenerate?” Bakugou murmured next. Todoroki only glowered, eyes fixed on the hole in the dome. 

On the far side of the courtyard, near Midoriya, the one covered in hands seemed to throw a tantrum, stomping like a child just told he’d have to wait a while to keep playing his favorite game. The tantrum stopped as abruptly as it started, the blue-haired man turning slowly to the green-haired teen only a few meters away from him. 

He lunged forward, and Link gasped, already knowing there was nothing he could do even as his feet started to move, and- 

A series of gunshots rang out, and the villain crumpled to the ground. Link turned, surprised, and there at the doors of the USJ were at least a dozen heroes, headed up by Snipe, pistols still smoking from his opening shots. 

Even with the two main villains disappearing behind him, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief. 

It was over, for now.


	7. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The events of the USJ don't end the moment the heroes show up. Link talks to the police, and then to his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I hope you enjoy this chapter, it was a lot of fun to write! Now that I'm past the USJ, I can actually progress the story in a way that will hopefully not feel janky and weird, if I manage to pace it right. Thank you for your patience and your support, and remember you're always welcome to hit me up on here or on tumblr to ask questions, tell me what you think about it so far, or just to say hi!

It was a bit of an exaggeration, Link thought bitterly, to think it was over just because the heroes had arrived. 

Sure, they weren’t dealing with ongoing attempts on their lives anymore, and most of the other students had been collected and brought back to the area around the main entrance. However, between the heroes trying to capture all the remaining villains, and the police and paramedics having separated the students for statements and medical attention, everything felt never-ending. 

At the moment, he was dealing with the former, an officer with a cat head interpreting and taking notes on his statements for a rather plain-looking detective who had been pulled over after he’d given his original summary on his encounter with the armored man. Apparently, the man (Tsukauchi, he’d introduced himself as) was in charge of “situations involving U.A and it’s students and faculty,” a statement which made Link’s brows raise in bemusement. 

“So this guy seemed focused on you, specifically?” The detective asked him, a barely-guarded look of concern on his face. Link nodded. The cat-headed officer also speaking to him scribbled a few things onto his notepad before fixing his gaze on Link again, cueing him to continue. 

_‘He was the only villain in that area, and Aoyama and I were the only students. I don’t think he was expecting Aoyama to be there either. He said something about me not remembering him, and that he was “like me once” and that he couldn’t kill me yet because he needed me to find someone else.’_ Link signed, the officer interpreting for him quietly. Tsukauchi nodded along, frown deepening as his statement continued. 

“Did he say anything about the person he was looking for? Name, appearance…?” He fished. Link hesitated, considering the question. 

_‘He said “her,” if that helps.’_

“It does. That’s about everything, since Tamakawa took down his appearance and what you saw of his quirk… Do you remember anything else about him? If not from today, then maybe another time you might’ve seen him? I only ask because of how sure you said he was about knowing you personally…” He explained. The officer, Tamakawa, made an expression Link was fairly certain was an encouraging smile. 

Link considers the question. He does know something. A name, and more than that, a title. 

Ganon. The Calamity. The two names made his stomach turn, comfortable, bittersweet familiarity turning to sour, ringing pain in his head as he tried to _remember_. What precious little he knew beyond the mans’ name and what he had been outright told came only in tiny bursts, memories that he was sure didn’t belong to him appearing like aftershocks. Green and blue and shimmering gold, the ring of blades meeting, and something big and dark and angry held back only by the dying light of something in the depths. 

_‘No.’_ He lied. Tsukauchi’s frown deepened, expression taking on a thoughtful edge. There’s a moment of nearly deafening silence, and Link stops himself from shifting uncomfortably as he waits for either policeman to start talking again. 

“Alright, kid, that’s all we needed from you.” He says finally, reaching into his trenchcoat and pulling out a small piece of thick, sturdy paper, holding it out to him. “If you remember anything else, or if something happens, don’t hesitate to call me, okay?” 

It was a business card. White paper with text printed in dark blue ink, reading _“Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa”_ with a phone number below. Simple, but effective, he supposed. Link pursed his lips in something not quite a smile, but close enough that both the officer and detective finally moved on. 

Link sat there for a bit longer, watching his classmates get treated and interviewed all over the entrance area. Aizawa, Midoriya, and All Might were all gone by this point, hauled off to Recovery Girl due to their more serious injuries. Kaminari was a short distance away from him, slowly recovering from the overuse of his quirk, with the only sign that he’d been tended to at all the shock blanket laying over his shoulders. Link had been given one too, along with an ice pack and a few bandaids from the scrapes and bruises he’d gotten from his short incident in the forest area. 

“_Salut_, Link.” A calm, airy voice greeted him. Looking up, he saw Aoyama, standing there with his usual mysterious smile and observant gaze. Link waved a quick greeting, and the other blonde sat down next to him, stretching his legs out in front of him and leaning back with his palms pressed against the ground behind him for balance. 

“Today was very… Taxing, _non_?” He asked rhetorically, placid expression unchanging. “For you especially, I think.” 

Link cast a confused look at the boy, and he sighed, shaking his head to himself. 

“The others… They might have had to actually fight in a way you didn’t, but they also didn’t have someone with what looked like a personal grudge trying to kill them.” He explained. “That man wanted to make sure you knew he hated you, and he went out of his way to get you alone to do it. That would be intense at best for most people.” 

There was a pause. Link massaged his wrist slowly, more for something to keep his hands occupied than for any real pain in the limb. 

“I didn’t hear most of what happened.” He told Link. “But from what I did hear… I’d be worried about my safety if I were in your place. And in the meantime, I think you should go talk to some of the others. They’re all worried about you, and I’m sure you’re worried about them too, somewhere under all the exhaustion and fear of your own mortality.” 

Link leaned over to bump their shoulders together, and reached into the pouches on his belt to pull out a small notepad and pen. 

_‘Thank you for worrying about me too. And I’m sorry about shoving you into that bush.’_ Aoyama laughed softly at his words. He stood, giving Link an appraising once-over, as though checking one more time to make sure he was okay. 

“Don’t mention it, _mon cher_.” With a wink, Aoyama turned on his heel, disappearing into the crowd of heroes, police, and paramedics alike still bustling around. 

It didn’t take much longer for Link to rise to his feet as well, wandering off in the direction of a slightly less populated area off to the side of the door. He did want to talk to the others, but… It was too much, everything that had happened today. 

The USJ getting attacked, his friends getting hurt, not to mention Ganon and the appearance of a whole slew of memories he had no idea how to organize in his head, much less deal with any kind of meaning from them. He wasn’t sure he could take much more of today without breaking. 

“Link!” A cheerful voice exclaimed somewhere to the side of him, and he turned just in time to watch as Uraraka collided with him at full speed, with Iida, Kirishima, Mina, Sero, Yaoyarozu, and Tsuyu close behind, all hovering around him at a respectable distance. He could see Bakugou, too, hesitating halfway between him and Kaminari’s still somewhat catatonic form, glowering at the ground and trying to look unbothered. Link focused his attention back on the brunette in front of him, ignoring the trapped feeling he got from being held so tightly. 

“We were so worried! No one knew where you’d ended up when we were separated, and then you and Aoyama showed up in the middle of everything, and _then_ the police wanted to talk to everyone and that detective seemed really concerned about what had happened with you and Aoyama-” She rambled until Tsuyu finally stepped forward, gently pulling the girl back and off of Link. 

“I think he gets it, Uraraka.” She chided the girl gently, and a somewhat embarrassed expression took over her face as she looked away. 

“For real though! Even Bakugou was worried-” Kirishima started, only to be cut off by a shout, courtesy of the explosive boy in question. 

“Hey! Don’t fuckin’ slander me like that, I was _not_ worried about that shitty Gremlin! And if I was, it’s only because he’s so incompetent-” Bakugou continued to rant, though Link’s attention was quickly stolen as Yaoyorozu stepped forward and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. 

“I’m glad you weren’t hurt too badly, Link.” She said, a tired but good-natured expression on her face. “Iida is too.” The boy in question nodded solemnly, attitude far too serious compared to the others, expressive and open and even happy despite the hardships they’d just gone through. 

_‘Thank you.’_ It’s only one sign, but Uraraka still caught it, giving him a somewhat bemused expression. 

“You don’t need to thank us, Link! We’re your friends, worrying about you is in the job description.” She said, and there was a soft chorus of agreements from the others in the little circle they’d made. 

Link simply shrugged at her response, for once not fighting the smile that came to his face. His friends’ optimism was unflinchingly bright, rubbing off on him enough to help keep him together for now, despite the events of the day. 

~~  
The moment he got home, he finally crashed, barely making it to bed before he was out. 

He slept soundly for the first time in what felt like ages, and when he woke up, all he could remember of his dreams was a shining sword with a blue hilt, glowing with holy energy.


	8. The Calm Between Two Storms: Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the events at the USJ, Link spends the days off surprisingly peacefully. Fortunately (or unfortunately), Aryll, Midoriya, and a mysterious stranger are all ready to shake things up in their own little ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so to preface: I am so sorry I've been gone for four months. School and family and all that stuff got really busy for a bit! It's still pretty busy actually, but I'm really hoping to manage my time better going forward, so with any luck I'll be able to post semi-regularly, though I don't know if I'll be doing weekly posts like I was at the beginning any time soon. 
> 
> Anyway, in other news: I've got a discord! 
> 
> Here's the link: https://discord.gg/u6fkdF
> 
> Anyway, enjoy the chapter, and I'll see you all around!

To the surprise of no one, U.A took a few days off following the USJ incident, giving students (Class 1-A, in particular) a much needed respite after the chaos caused by the villains’ invasion. 

The second day of this impromptu break, Link found himself in the forest, not too far from his apartment (his uncle’s, technically, though the distinction didn’t mean much considering he was never around anyways). 

It was, in all honesty, not the greatest idea he’d had, going off into the woods alone, especially knowing now that someone had it out for him, but it was all he could think of to do. The forest had always been a safe place for him, and so was the tiny creek that ran through it. 

The place he found himself in now, specifically, was a small clearing on the bank of said creek, laid out on his back among the grass and flowers and watching the light filter gently through the leaves. The only sounds that reached his ears were the songs of the birds, and the soft breeze which kept him cool despite the sunny spring day.

It was peaceful, by all accounts. If only his increasingly anxious brain would get the memo. With everything that had happened at school recently, his nerves were frayed at best. Even his home felt cramped and exposed now. It wasn’t just Ganon that had made him feel so closed in, though. He could feel the weight of the small green gem from a few weeks ago in his pocket, heavier than it seemed just by looking at it, though the presence couldn’t compare to that of the dreams and nightmares weighing down everything else. 

_Ding!_

His phone chimed, saving him from any darker line of thinking, and he grabbed for it blindly at his side, bringing it up to read the notification. 

**Midoriya:** _You’ve been invited to [Class 1-A]! Click the link to join the server:_

After that was a link to a messaging app, thankfully one Link was relatively familiar with. Link’s brow furrowed thoughtfully as he opened his phone, tapping the link in the message and watching as the app loaded. 

_Welcome to [Class 1-A], would you like to set your nickname for this server?_

He considered it for a moment, eventually typing in _‘Gremlin’_ and hitting submit. 

**Server:** _‘Link’ has joined [Class 1-A]!_

**Server:** _‘Link’ has changed his nickname to ‘Gremlin’_

**Iida Tenya:** _Link! You’re the last one in. This chat is for all of 1-A, as well as some of our common associates, for school and social purposes. The only rules are to keep the chat clean, and be respectful to each other!_

Link smiled despite himself, seeing how Iida was so serious even over text message. Not that he was any better, to be fair, his lack of aptitude for technology and the existence of auto-correct making him sound about forty years older than he was when typing.

He spent some time, after that, just watching his friends chat and chiming in when he felt like it, and by the time he was leaving the forest, the day was heading steadily into late afternoon, the warm spring air from earlier now slightly chilled, raising light goosebumps on his skin as he walked home. 

When he got back to his apartment, he was expecting another quiet night by himself, watching some fantasy drama show with some homemade honey candy. Instead, the moment he walked through the door he was tackled, making him stumble back a step and catch himself on the door frame. He tensed in surprise. _What-_

“Link!” Oh. It was Aryll, looking up at him sternly like a disappointed mother. She let go of him, immediately starting to talk even as she pulled him fully into the house and into the living room. 

“I would have called earlier, but I still don’t have a phone, and you know how weird my school gets about making calls from the office sometimes… But, anyways, that’s not important!” She frowned. 

_‘Aryll, you still haven’t explained why you’re dragging me around like this.’_ He signed as well as he could with one arm still locked in her grip. 

“My homeroom teacher told us what happened at the USJ the other day.” She started, and Link blanched. To his surprise, she sighed, and her expression softened, looking more worried than disappointed.

“Link… Please promise me you’re being careful? I know you want to be a hero, and I don’t want to stop you, or hold you back, but… This is so much, so quickly. You’ve only been in highschool for a couple weeks, and you’re getting attacked by _real, actual villains?”_ She let go of him, nudging him in the direction of the couch, and he sat down. She sat next to him, picking up the remote for the TV and restlessly passed it back and forth between her hands. 

“I just don’t want you to get hurt, is all.” She finished after a moment of quiet between the two. Link frowned. He’d never meant to worry her. She looked down at the remote, a sad, brooding expression on her face. 

“Hey…” He murmured, voice soft and raspy with disuse. She looked up at him, eyebrows raised. 

_‘I understand. It was… terrifying. I can’t lie to you about that. But I made it through, and so did everyone else. And I’ll do it again.’_ Link signed, hands growing more sure in their movements as he continued. _‘I have too much to do, to protect, to let some villain take me out.’_

“That’s what I’m worried about.” She sighed again, but the dark look on her face melted away, and she stopped shifting the remote between her palms, turning the TV on and settling in to watch it with him. 

~~~~~

A couple hours later, some time after Aryll had gone to bed, Link crept out of his window onto the fire escape. 

It was late, and the alley between his apartment complex and the neighboring building was dark, only a miniscule amount of light filtering into the narrow space. Regardless, he settled on the landing, ignoring the way the metal creaked softly under his weight as he leaned back against the brick wall behind him. He fished his phone free from his pocket, opening up the messaging app, and then a private conversation he’d had earlier in the afternoon. 

**11:43 PM**

**Link:** _Are you still awake?_

Link waited with bated breath, staring out of the alley into the street. After a few minutes, his phone chirped, and he glanced back down at the screen. 

**Midoriya:** _Yeah, what’s up?_

**Link:** _I was thinking about what you said earlier._

**Link:** _About opening up more?_

**Midoriya:** _Oh?_

**Link:** _Would you want to meet up tomorrow some time? There’s something I want to talk about, but I’d prefer to do it in person._

**Midoriya:** _Sure! When/where would you wanna meet?_

They set a time and place. The plan was to meet early in the morning at Dagobah Beach, after some assurances from Midoriya that the place had been cleaned up from it’s previous ‘Dump’ status. 

**Midoriya:** _If you don’t mind me asking, what is it that you wanna talk about?_

**Link:** _Well… It’s about something that happened at the USJ. That’s all I can really say at the moment._

**Midoriya:** _Oh._

**Link:** _I’ll see you tomorrow?_

**Midoriya:** _Of course. I’m gonna go to bed, but I’ll see you at Dagobah in the morning! ^-^_

Link gave his own farewells, and put his phone to sleep, slipping it back into his pocket. He stared out into the alley for some time after that, watching cars pass on the street outside, despite the late hour. He tilted his head back to lean against the wall, and curled his fingers into the grate of the landing below. He could only hope Midoriya would be able to help bring some sense to the situation he was finding himself in. Or, barring that, at least give him someone to fall back on should something even _more_ happen. 

Just as his eyes slipped shut, moving steadily towards falling asleep on the little fire escape, a sound drew his attention, his pointed ears flicking slightly in agitation as he jolted, glancing around in search of the noise. Above him, he caught sight of someone leaning over the edge of the landing above him, watching him. The noise, he quickly realized, had been the metal creaking as they dropped down onto it. More than that, as he scrambled to his feet he realized it was the same figure that he’d seen the night he’d found the green gem on his windowsill. 

Before he could make any move towards the person, or even bring his hands up to try and sign (fruitless as it would have been, in the dark), the figure dropped something over the edge. Link fumbled to catch it, grunting as he looked up to see the figure scaling up the fire escape, disappearing into the night. He barely caught a glimpse of a symbol on their clothes, bright red and in the shape of a magnifying glass with an eye for the lens.

He waited a moment after they’d disappeared, staring up into the inky black of the night, just in case they decided to return. Once he was sure they were gone, he slid open his window with one hand and crawled through, cradling the item they’d dropped to him in his other arm. 

As soon as he was safely in his room with the window shut and locked, he inspected the thing in his hand. It was a small, brown cloth bag, emblazoned with the golden tri-force symbol he had put on his own hero costume, with the addition of a pair of stylized wings, one on either side of the symbol. A shiver ran up his spine, and he felt his breath catch in his throat. He couldn’t even describe the emotions he felt at that moment, a mix of confusion, fear, and that increasingly common feeling of _familiarity_, as though he knew this thing better than he knew himself, even as it’s name and meaning slipped out of his grasp. 

He glanced out the window again. He knew no one was there, but he couldn’t shake off the sensation of being watched that had come over him. With shaking fingers, he pulled open the bag, reached in, and fished out an orb twice the size of his fist. As soon as it was free of the bag, it hovered slightly above his hands. It seemed to suck in the light around it, and inside he could see a void-black mist swirl and shift. Suddenly, the orb darted forward, slamming into his chest and seemingly _dissolving_ into him. 

For a moment, his vision went white, and then faded into a vision. He could see himself, in what looked like armor, standing on a small podium in a vast, bottomless room with a series of floating platforms and hovering propellers scattered around. In front of him was a square dais, upon which sat an almost mummified looking person with long, white hair, and a circlet dangling a large square of cloth emblazoned with the red eye symbol he’d seen earlier over their face. He watched, fascinated, as another void-black orb formed in front of the ancient looking person, and floated down into the other Link’s outstretched hands before rushing forward and dissolving into him. For a moment, the air seemed to shimmer around the other Link. 

And then, just like that, everything faded to white, and he was back in his room. 

He gasped, barely stifling a cough and shudder, as he felt _whatever_ it was spread from his chest, to his arms and legs, and then hands and feet, even his head, coating him in the feeling of frostburn for a moment before dissipating. He was breathless still for several moments after, until he finally slumped back onto his bed, suddenly drained. 

_‘Well… Shit.’_ The thought came unbidden. If whatever vision or memory or _whatever_ he’d just seen was to be trusted (part of him hoped it wasn’t, though he knew it was in vain), then whoever it was on the fire escape, and on the neighboring building’s roof some nights earlier, was trying to help him. More than that, it seemed this was an entire _group_, if the mysterious symbols, apparent magical facilities, and ancient, near mummified looking monks within said magical facilities were any indication. 

Whatever the case was, Link was certain of one thing:

_Morning, and with it, his meeting with Midoriya, couldn’t come soon enough. _


End file.
